Life in the Fast Lane
by X-Shadow.of.Darkness-X
Summary: REVISED EDITION: A Glee/Fast and Furious Crossover Fic. AU. After Rachel gets in trouble with the LAPD one time too many, her family decide to relocate to Lima, Ohio. However, when the New Directions return to Los Angeles for Nationals, Rachel finds her old crew in desperate need of assistance. Santana/Rachel, Quinn/Brittany, Dom/Letty. Rating may change later on.
1. The Street Race

**Life in the Fast Lane – A Glee/Fast and Furious Crossover Fic**

**Summary: After Rachel gets in trouble with the LAPD one time too many, her family decide to relocate to Lima, Ohio. However, when the New Directions return to Los Angeles for Nationals, Rachel finds her old crew in desperate need of assistance. Santana/Rachel, Quinn/Brittany, Dom/Letty. Rating may change later on.**

**PART ONE - LIMA**

A sleepy suburb in Los Angeles. Neat hedges lined the sidewalk, kept in check by the ever-vigilant residents. Trees swayed lazily in the breeze, casually beding to the will of the gentle summer breeze. One man was in his garden, mowing his lawn, the soft hum of the mower's motor the only noise in the peace. As he powered off the mower, he stopped, looking to the sky. This was why he liked it here. The peace. The tranquility. A butterfly fluttered lazily onto one of his begonias, landing lightly on the bright yellow petals.

In one moment, all of that was shattered.

The silence in the air was torn by the roar of a car engine as a silver Mitsubishi Evo screeched around the corner, the tires squealing in protest, the sun gleaming off the spotless bodywork. Following it almost immediately were three police cars, sirens wailing, all, apparently, attempting to catch the driver of the Mitsubishi.

Rachel Berry clenched her jaw as she shifted gear, slamming her foot back down on the accelerator, allowing the adrenaline to course through her at the burst of speed it granted. She adjusted her line slightly, powering through the lazy suburban streets.

She glanced in her mirror. The police were still right behind her. She swallowed and refocused her attention on the strip of tarmac in front of her.

Maybe Dom had been right. Maybe this had been a stupid idea...

Rachel was tinkering with the engine of an old Ford Fiesta when Letty strode into the garage. Rachel nodded at her cousin before returning her attention to the injectors in front of her.

"_Did you hear?" Rachel heard Letty ask. "Hector's back on the scene. He's been setting up street races."_

_Rachel looked up. She had heard Brian and Dom discussing the street race organizer before, but had never personally met the man, despite having entered several street races herself. She looked up over the hood of the car._

_Dom shrugged._

"_So what? We don't race anymore, Letty. We just got our records cleared. I'm in no hurry to open one up again."_

_Letty shook her head._

"_I wasn't suggesting that. It's the other bit I thought you might be interested in."_

"_What's that?"_

"_He's organizing them in the middle of the day."_

_It was Dom's turn to shake his head._

"_The man's an idiot, then. He's gonna get himself locked up."_

_With that, Dom turned and left the garage, wiping his hands on an old rag and tossing it aside. Letty waited until he was out of earshot before addressing Rachel._

"_I know you were listening, Rach. Come out."_

_Rachel jumped, stepping out from behind the car. She looked across the garage at her cousin, seeing the older woman's piercing gaze trained on her like a sniper rifle._

"_Don't do it, Rach."_

"_Don't do what?" Rachel asked innocently, though she was fairly sure she knew what Letty was talking about._

"_The race. Don't go."_

"_Why not?" Rachel asked. "I can take care of myself."_

_Letty sighed. Her cousin could be impossible was a quality that managed to impress and frustrate her in equal measure._

"_I'm not saying you can't," Letty said. "but if you do get in trouble, the crew can't bail you out. You'll be on your own. So, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you; don't go."_

_Rachel stared defiantly back into Letty's eyes for a moment._

"_Fine." she conceded. "I won't go." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'd better get home."_

_Letty nodded._

"_All right. Say hi to your dads for me."_

"_I will." Rachel promised. She grabbed a grubby cloth from a nearby table, wiping the oil from her hands, let the hood of the car fall back into place with a bang and strode out of the garage. Fishing in her pocket, she pulled out her keys, unlocked her car, got in, revved the engine and pulled away from the garage._

_Letty watched Rachel go with a small frown on her face. In all the years she'd known her younger cousin, she had never known her back down in a confrontation so easily. It was slightly unnerving._

_She shook her head. She trusted Rachel. She wouldn't be _that _rash, surely._

-x-x-x-x-x-

_The venue for the street race wasn't exactly difficult to find._

_After only fifteen minutes of driving around, Rachel found a parking lot full of people standing around cars with the hoods up. Music was blasting from the cars, creating a cacophony of noise, the subs in the trunks of the cars drowning out the people around them._

_Rachel smiled as she pulled into the parking lot. She didn't have any intention of racing; she merely wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Letty and the rest of the guys had nothing to worry about._

_Several people turned their heads to look at her as she pulled up alongside a blue Mazda MX-7. She ignored them all as she unclasped her seat belt and slid out of the car, walking around the front and leaning against the hood, taking in the scene around her._

_She'd been to a few street races since she had learned to drive two years ago, under Dom and Brian's tuition. The scenes were always the same. Loud music, fast, shiny cars, scantily clad women. It was Rachel's idea of heaven._

"_Rachel!"_

_Rachel turned at the sound of her name, a grin breaking out on her face when she saw one of her few friends outside of the team, Alice Donahan, running toward her. She enveloped the girl in a hug._

"_What are you doing here?" Rachel asked._

"_I heard the music, so I figured I'd check it out." Alice said. "I thought you might be here."_

_Rachel smiled._

"_To be honest, I wasn't planning on coming."_

"_You aren't racing?"_

_Rachel shook her head._

"_Not today."_

"_Rachel Berry."_

_Rachel turned to see her least favorite person, Jackson Emerson, standing a few feet away, running his eyes over her car._

"_Jackson." she said shortly._

_Jackson smirked as he inspected the Evo._

"_Nice ride." he commented._

"_Thank you." Rachel said, her tone guarded. She was never quite sure where she stood with the young man._

"_Dom not racing today?" he asked, watching her for her reaction._

"_You know he doesn't race anymore." she snapped._

"_And, by the sound of it, you aren't racing today either." Jackson smirked again. "He taught you well."_

_Rachel's temper flared._

"_If you want a race, we can race." she challenged, Letty's warning forgotten almost immediately in her haze of anger. "Car for car."_

_Jackson simply looked at her coolly._

"_Fine." He turned his head, shouting over the music. "Hey, Hector! Get over here!"_

_Rachel watched a bald man detach himself from a group of people and make his way across the parking lot toward them._

"_What's up, man?" he asked, clasping Jackson's outstretched hand._

_Jackson gestured between himself and Rachel._

"_We're racing. You got a track?"_

_Hector looked over Rachel. His bare head was shining with sweat, and a small mustache and goatee clinging to his chin, while several days worth of stubble covered his cheeks._

"_What you driving?"_

_A crowd had started to gather around them now. Rachel ignored them, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at her Evo. Hector cast an appraising eye over the car, taking in the decals that adorned the bodywork._

"_Looks good. What's under the hood?"_

_Rachel walked to the car, popping the hood open and propping it up. Appreciative whistles sounded from the crowd._

_The car was Rachel's baby. She had picked it up used for a little under $5000, and had proceeded to gut the car, with the help of Brian, Dom and Tej. Together, they had replaced the engine, suspension and brakes, fitted a nitrous oxide injection system and a new, six-speed transmission and repainted and decorated the body, all the while enduring Dom's ribbing her about following Brian's love of imports, wiling away the hours touting the virtues of American muscle._

_She had borrowed money from Brian, easily paying him back after one race. Her fathers, while still unsure about where she had got the money to pay for the car as well as all the upgrades, were thankfully unaware of the company she kept. In Rachel's opinion, it was probably for the best, because if they knew what she got up to, she would never be allowed to leave the house again._

_Once Hector had inspected the engine to his satisfaction, he looked at Rachel._

"_You got a race computer?"_

"_Of course."_

_There was a few moments as Hector loaded the race course onto Rachel and Jackson's computers. When he had finished, he turned to the crowd._

"_All right! This is an open road race. No roads have been closed off, so the racers have to avoid the traffic as well as the cops."_

_Rachel allowed herself a small smile. She knew from experience that her car could outrun cop cars. She glanced over at Jackson, who was looking slightly less confident. But he wouldn't back down. Not now. He was too proud to risk losing face in front of everyone there._

"_Drivers, get into position!"_

_Rachel and Jackson rounded their cars, slid in and drove to the entrance to the parking lot. The crowd gathered behind and to the side of them. One of the more scantily-clad girls stepped out from the crowd between the cars. She pointed at Jackson._

"_Ready?"_

_Jackson nodded, his hands clenched around his steering wheel, teeth gritted. The girl pointed at Rachel._

"_Steady?"_

_Rachel revved her engine in response._

_The girl raised her arms._

"_GO!"_

_Rachel slammed her foot down on the throttle. The car's wheels spun for a moment before the traction control kicked in. The engines roared as the two racers set off, the noise lost in the roar from the crowd._

_Rachel managed to eke her car in front of Jackson's through the gate, heading out onto the road, following the course plotted on her computer. Glancing in her mirror, she could see Jackson's blue Mazda bearing down on her. She shifted up a gear, trying to open up some distance between them, weaving in and out of the traffic, ignoring the blaring of horns and shouts of anger from other motorists, the music of the street racing scene._

_Rachel let out a shout of laughter as she effortlessly guided her car across the tarmac. This was where she belonged, behind the wheel of a car. There was no better feeling than that rush of adrenaline after every near miss, every high speed chase, every drift. The thrill was almost orgasmic._

_She glanced to her side, and saw, to her horror, that Jackson had managed to draw level with her. She glanced at her computer, noting the right hand turn coming up. She smirked, blew her opponent a kiss, dropped down a gear and swung the Evo round the corner, the sound of rubber screeching on tarmac drowning out the horns of the other cars._

_The racers found themselves on a long, straight road. Rachel power-shifted up a gear, pressing the accelerator into the floor, opening up a fairly sizable gap between herself and Jackson. She returned her attention to the road, narrowly avoiding a Nissan Micra as she swerved into the opposite lane. She could see Jackson closing in on her again in her rear view mirror._

_Suddenly, the other racer veered off down an adjacent road, narrowly avoiding plowing into the side of a BMW._

_'Where is he going?!' Rachel thought. The computer hadn't shown a turn there. At least, hers hadn't._

_A few moments later, she got her answer._

_The wail of police sirens cut through the air._

"_Fuck!"_

_Rachel swerved into a clear lane, slammed the car into sixth gear and sped off, doing her best to lose her pursuers._

It hadn't been easy, and three of them were still on her. Rachel's fingers danced over the controls of her NOS injectors, toying with the idea of engaging the system. She wrenched her hand away as she threw the car around another corner. It would be a stupid idea. The roads around here were too narrow, too winding. She'd plow into a wall or a pedestrian before she got away from the cops.

There was another corner coming up on her right. She glanced in her mirror, then wrenched her handbrake up, twisting the steering wheel to the right. The back end of the car was thrown out as she slid around the corner, the rear wheels losing grip on the road as the brake kicked in. Rachel slammed the handbrake back down, burying the accelerator.

She could see an exit onto a main road up ahead. As she approached, the cop cars rounded the corner she had just slid around. She twisted the wheel around, drifting the Evo out into the traffic. Before the cops could follow, Rachel turned off into another road, hoping the police would think she had stayed on the main road.

She slowed down as she listened. The volume of the sirens increased, then decreased as the police cars sped away down the main road.

Rachel let out a breath. Reaching over, she turned off her race computer. Screw the race. Jackson had quit out anyway. She glanced at the clock on the dash, then turned down another road, heading for her house.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The cops scanned the road in front of them.

"I think we lost them."

The other officer sighed.

"Doesn't matter. I got the plates. I'll run them past R&I and give them a visit at home."


	2. Goodbye, Hello

Rachel swung her car into the garage next to her house, killing the engine as she unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out of the car. Her legs were still shaking slightly, the lingering effects of the adrenaline rush from the race and high speed pursuit that had followed.

As she shut the front door behind her, Rachel heard one of her fathers' voices calling to her from the kitchen.

"Rachel? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Dad." Rachel shouted back as she headed toward the kitchen. The scent of cooking vegetables wafted through the house.

She entered the kitchen to see Hiram standing vigilant next to a pot on the stove, while Leroy was busy cutting potatoes by the sink.

"Where have you been?" Leroy asked her, looking up from his chopping.

"Hanging out with Letty and the guys." she replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "She says hi."

Hiram nodded, but Leroy's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What guys?"

Rachel forced herself not to let out a sigh of exasperation. This was a well-worn topic of conversation in their house.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! You're a young woman! I want to know the kind of guys you spend so much time hanging out with."

Rachel glared at her father.

"I'm not arguing about this again!" She spun on her heel and stormed out of the room.

Hiram sighed.

"Why did you push that?"

"Push what?"

"Your opinion of her friends. I know you don't trust them, but Rachel's nearly eighteen. She's growing up."

"I get that, but that doesn't guarantee her safety."

"True, but you know Letty. She doesn't take shit from anyone. She won't let anyone hurt Rachel."

"I suppose."

"Come on, tell me if these veggies are done."

-x-x-x-x-x-

If there was anyone that looked like a stereotypical police officer, that person was Officer Gary Thompson. A hardy police officer on the brink of being made a full detective, he was a large, burly 6'6" man, with dark brown hair flecked with gray. His eyes were small and beady, staring out of his face like tiny pinpricks in the dark. When he had first joined the force almost a decade ago, his recruitment officer had taken one look at him and said "No undercover work for you, son. You couldn't look more like a cop if you tried."

"Has R&I got back on those plates?" he asked the younger officer in front of him. Jack Rullins nodded, riffling through the paper on his desk.

"I believe so. Yes, here."

He handed a single sheet of paper over the desk. Thompson reached over, taking it and scanning his eyes over the page. As his eyes alighted on the registered owner's name, his nostrils flared.

"Rachel Berry. I should have known."

"Sir?"

"I've dealt with her before on a couple of occasions, mainly minor traffic offenses. Speeding, usually. She has a rather distinctive car."

Jack cast his mind back to the chase, remembering the silver Mitsubishi, and the decals that adorned the body.

"You got that right." He leaned back in his chair. "So, what now?"

"I think we should pay Ms. Berry a visit."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Leroy and Hiram had just settled into their chairs in the sitting room when there was a loud knock on the door. The two men looked at each other.

"Are you expecting anyone?"

"No. You?"

"No."

They exchanged another look as another knock echoed through the house. Rising, the walked out to the front door, opening it.

The image that greeted them was a strange one indeed. A large, hulking man, next to him a smaller man, both looking straight at the Berry men.

Leroy was the first to speak.

"Can we help you?"

"Yes." said the larger man. "Is this the residence of one Rachel Berry?"

"We're her fathers."

The man nodded, fishing in his pocket, finally withdrawing a badge.

"Mr Berry, Officers Gary Thompson and Jack Rullins, LAPD." They held up their badges. Hiram's stomach knotted unpleasantly. "May we come in?"

Leroy was trying his best to conceal his shock as he stepped back.

"O-of course, right this way."

He led the two policemen through the house as Hiram moved to the bottom of the stairs, hoping his voice wouldn't betray his worry.

"Rachel? Could you come down for a moment, please?"

"Give me a minute!" came the muffled reply.

Hiram entered the living room to see the two police officers sat on the sofa.

"She'll be down in a moment. Can I offer you a drink?"

"No, thank you."

They four men sat in stony silence until Rachel finally walked through the door.

Officer Thompson looked up as she entered.

"Rachel Berry?"

"Yes."

He gestured to an empty seat.

"Please, sit."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at the man inviting her to sit down in her own house as she crossed the room, settling herself in the chair.

"Ms. Berry, I'm Officer Gary Thompson of the LAPD." he began, flashing her his badge. "This is Officer Jack Rullins. Do you know why we're here?"

Rachel was pretty certain she knew, but still shook her head. She didn't dare look at her fathers.

"No?" Officer Thompson's eyebrows rose. "So you don't remember three police cars chasing you through the suburbs of Los Angeles earlier this afternoon?"

"Wait, what?" Leroy asked, his voice full of shock and surprise. Rachel's stomach turned over, making her feel as though she was going to be rather violently ill.

"Earlier this afternoon, we, along with two other patrol cars, happened upon an illegal street race. One of the participants was your daughter."

Both Leroy and Hiram's gazes turned to Rachel, who didn't have to look up to see the fury and disappointment in her fathers' eyes.

"Are you here to arrest her?" Hiram asked fearfully, glancing at the police officers.

Officer Thompson shook his head.

"Not this time. What we are going to do is present you with a formal caution. Should you be caught for any traffic offense, we will be taking you into custody." he said to Rachel, who forced herself to look into his eyes and nod.

The two officers rose to their feet, straightening their uniforms.

"You will receive a formal acknowledgment of this caution within the next few days." He turned back to Leroy and Hiram. "Sorry to intrude on your evening, we'll show ourselves out."

The family sat in silence until they heard the front door slam shut. Leroy and Hiram both turned their gazes onto Rachel, who braced herself for the verbal barrage that was sure to come.

"Rachel."

Her father's voice was so calm that Rachel looked up automatically. When she met their eyes, however, she instantly wished she hadn't. The fury was gone from their faces, to be replaced with pure, unadulterated disappointment. That in itself was more crushing than a thousand barrages of fury.

"I thought you promised us you weren't going to race anymore, after last time."

Rachel nodded, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"You said that last time as well, baby girl. How can we trust your word again?"

Rachel was silent. She ran several possible answers through her mind, but they all seemed weak and feeble. Evidently, her fathers had picked up on this as well.

"Go to your room, Rachel. We need to talk."

Rachel nodded.

"Don't think you're getting off this easily, though." Leroy said as she stood up. "We'll be talking later."

"Okay." Rachel said in a small voice.

"We aren't angry, Rachel." Hiram said gently. "We're just disappointed."

That was the kiss of death for Rachel. Having her fathers shout at her for hours was something she could have dealt with, but this? The knowledge that she had let down the two people most important to her? It was crushing. She left the room as fast as she could without actually running, not letting the tears fall until she was in the hallway.

Leroy crossed the room and shut the door. He didn't speak until he was sat down in his chair again.

"What are we going to do?" His voice was almost desperate.

"I think you already know."

Leroy sighed, bringing his hand to his head, cradling it as he spoke.

"I really don't want to have to uproot our family and move."

Hiram nodded sadly.

"I know you don't, but we may not have much choice. The police are going to be watching her now. I know you know how lucky she is that she wasn't arrested tonight."

"I do, but... her whole life is here. I know I don't exactly have the highest opinion of her friends, but they're still her friends. How can we just rip her away from all that?"

"It's for the best. We need a fresh start, all of us. Rachel deserves to have her senior year without all the pressure of having to be Little Miss Highway Code every time she's out on the road."

Leroy was silent for the longest time, running through every possible scenario in his head. Finally, he let out a long, deep, shaky breath.

"You're right. Get your brother on the phone. See if he'll still let us rent his place in Ohio."

-x-x-x-x-x-

They informed Rachel of their plan a week and a half later, after the details of their accommodation had been settled. As they had expected, she didn't take the news well. They sat for hours, going over every minute detail with their daughter. Finally, grudgingly, she agreed, well aware that she didn't have much choice in the matter anyway.

Before they knew it, their belongings had been packed away into boxes, ready to be shipped to their new home in Lima, Ohio. Rachel had only vaguely heard of the place before. The one thing she was certain of, though, was that it was on the other side of the country.

"If we did it in one straight shot, we'd be driving for about thirty-two hours." Leroy explained. "So, we're going to make it into a road trip of sorts. We'll make stops in Albuquerque, Oklahoma City and St Louis on the way. It'll be like an adventure." He tried to inject some measure of enthusiasm into his voice, though Rachel could tell he was even less thrilled by the decision than she was.

-x-x-x-x-x-

D-Day. That was what all three Berrys had been calling it in the privacy of their own minds. Departure Day.

About a hour before they were due to leave for New Mexico, Hiram pulled Rachel aside.

"all right, you've got an hour. Go and say goodbye to Letty and the rest of your friends. We'll be waiting right here."

Rachel nodded, pushing down the tears as she had been doing for the past two weeks. She grabbed her car keys from the shelf in the hallway, walking through the nearly bare house to the garage.

Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling up in front of the garage where the crew normally were. She could see three cars parked outside. A Dodge Charger, a Nissan Skyline and a Koenigsegg CCXR. Dom, Brian and Roman. The rest would be there as well, if they were there.

She stepped out of her car, locking it and walked into the garage. As she had suspected, the entire crew was there, stood in a semicircle, sombre expressions on their faces.

"We're leaving soon." Rachel said, looking at Letty. Her cousin nodded, stepping forward, holding her arms out. Rachel gave a small smile, allowing the older woman to envelope her in a hug. Letty clung onto her cousin, determined not to let her tears flow.

When she was finally released, Rachel began moving around the semicircle, saying goodbye to everyone individually.

"Thank you for everything, Brian." she said as she hugged the man. "I can never repay you."

Brian smiled.

"We'll miss you, Rach."

Rachel moved to Mia, who's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Hey, no tears." Rachel admonished. "If you cry, I'll cry. And if I cry, then Roman will cry."

"Hey!"

Mia gave a watery chuckle.

"Stay safe." she whispered, hugging the younger girl. Rachel smiled as she was released, stroking baby Jack's face.

She turned to Roman next. The man was determinedly looking anywhere but at her.

"Roman..."

She didn't get to say anything more as the tall man engulfed her in a bone-breaking hug. She let out a soft laugh as he picked her up, spinning her around.

"Give 'em hell in that cow town." he said as he released her. He raised his fist, and Rachel fist-bumped him, chuckling slightly.

Han and Gisele next. Gisele hadn't been able to stop the tears from falling as she hugged Rachel, Han's arm around her shoulders. Rachel was finding it harder and harder to speak as she moved around the group.

When she reached Dom, the tears finally fell. Dom pulled her into his arms, running his hand down her back.

When he released her, he looked her straight in the eye.

"Ride or die, remember?"

Rachel nodded.

She turned back to Letty, who managed a half-smile.

"'It's not goodbye, it's see you later.'"

Rachel smiled.

"You watched it, then?"

Letty nodded. She pulled her cousin into another hug.

"Don't be a stranger."

Rachel took one last look around at her friends. Despite the age gap between them, they were the closest friends she had. Sure, they all had their quirks, but despite that, she loved them all. She swallowed. She had known it was going to be hard, but didn't imagine it would be this hard.

She opened her mouth several times, but no words came out. She raised a hand, before walking back to her car.

As she left, Han pulled Gisele closer to him, and Brian and Dom put their arms around Mia and Letty, respectively, comforting the two women. Roman looked around for a moment, as though lost for what to do, then held his arms open toward Tej.

"Don't even think about it, man."

-x-x-x-x-x-

Just over a week later, the Berrys arrived at their new home. From the outside, it was nothing to write home about. It looked almost exactly the same as the houses on either side of it, simple brick and a wooden porch.

Rachel pulled her car up against the sidewalk behind the pickup her parents drove, parking behind a large removal truck.

They piled out of their cars, moving toward the driver of the truck.

"Sorry we're late." Leroy said to the driver apologetically. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Just over an hour." the driver answered gruffly.

As the men began unloading the truck, Hiram leaned down to Rachel.

"We'll be here a while unloading all this. Why don't you go and introduce yourself to the neighbors?"

Rachel nodded, glad of an excuse to distract from the fact that she really didn't want to be here. She dodged around the removal men as she approached the house to the left of their own. She stepped up to the door, raised her hand and knocked.

A few moments later, the door swung back to reveal a young Latina girl who looked about Rachel's age. She ran her eyes over Rachel as though examining her.

"Can I help you?"

Rachel raised her hand.

"Hi, we just moved in next door. I'm Rachel Berry."

The girl regarded her for a moment, then took her hand, shaking it briefly.

"Santana Lopez."


End file.
